Americans With Disabilities Leaving Labor Force At Alarming Rate
Within the last few months, media outlets are beginning to report that some aspects of the national economic picture are beginning to experience relative improvements in the stock market, major employers beginning to hire, businesses planning capital investments, and general business confidence in the future as slightly more optimistic.
While this economic news is welcomed, it should be viewed from the stark reality that government budgets at every municipal level have for years continously cut back on direct services, supports, and funding for people with disabilities. This, in turn, has had a considerable negative impact on neighborhood and community capacity-building efforts to enhance the employment, social inclusion, and self-sufficiency of PwD.
Some recognizable impacts of these cutbacks can be seen through data analysis from sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly reports. At the end of April 2011,the BLN documented the TOTAL (part/full time) reported employment rate for young adults with disabilities ages 16-19 at 12.1 % (11.6% March 2011) compared to 24.9 % (24.7% March 2011) for same-aged youth with no disabilities. Young adults with disabilities ages 20-24 had an employment rate of 29.4% (31.4 % for March 2011). The employment rate for young adults ages 20-24 with no disabilities was 61.3 percent for April 2011 (61.0% for March 2011).
As appalling as these statisitcs seem, Senator Tom Harkins (D-IA) recent keynote address at the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Corporate Disability Employment Summit, sounded additional alarms on continuing disturbing trends:
More than one out of three of all American adults who left the workforce have disabilities
More than two thirds of Americans with disabilities are without a job
Adults with disabilities are leaving the labor force during this recession at more than 10 times the rate of adults without disabilities
Between March 2009 and March 2010, the size of the workforce with disabilities shrank by 395,000
Harkin then correctly called on the CEOs and business owners in the audience to join him in his goal of increasing the number of disabled Americans in the workforce from 4.9 million today to 6 million in 2015.
What are the most likely conditions of qualified applicants with disabilities that CEOs and business owners will draw upon to achieve this goal?
Based upon the recently released national 2010 Disability Statistics Compendium (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics), the types of disabilites for students ages 6-17 recognized/served through special education programs found that more than 4 out of 10 have LD and 1 out of 20 are served under the autism category (approximately 50% of all special education students).
So, (as he takes a deep breath) given that the majority of school-aged students with disabilities are considered to have learning disabilities or related disorders, one could assume that legislative, business, and community efforts would be aligning to propose/provide comprehensive programming for successful transition of the largest, single category of condition recognized as a significant barrier to educational attainment, employment paying a living wage, community participation, and civic engagement, right? not so fast, grasshopper!
While this economic news is welcomed, it should be viewed from the stark reality that government budgets at every municipal level have for years continously cut back on direct services, supports, and funding for people with disabilities. This, in turn, has had a considerable negative impact on neighborhood and community capacity-building efforts to enhance the employment, social inclusion, and self-sufficiency of PwD.
Some recognizable impacts of these cutbacks can be seen through data analysis from sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly reports. At the end of April 2011,the BLN documented the TOTAL (part/full time) reported employment rate for young adults with disabilities ages 16-19 at 12.1 % (11.6% March 2011) compared to 24.9 % (24.7% March 2011) for same-aged youth with no disabilities. Young adults with disabilities ages 20-24 had an employment rate of 29.4% (31.4 % for March 2011). The employment rate for young adults ages 20-24 with no disabilities was 61.3 percent for April 2011 (61.0% for March 2011).
As appalling as these statisitcs seem, Senator Tom Harkins (D-IA) recent keynote address at the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Corporate Disability Employment Summit, sounded additional alarms on continuing disturbing trends:
More than one out of three of all American adults who left the workforce have disabilities
More than two thirds of Americans with disabilities are without a job
Adults with disabilities are leaving the labor force during this recession at more than 10 times the rate of adults without disabilities
Between March 2009 and March 2010, the size of the workforce with disabilities shrank by 395,000
Harkin then correctly called on the CEOs and business owners in the audience to join him in his goal of increasing the number of disabled Americans in the workforce from 4.9 million today to 6 million in 2015.
What are the most likely conditions of qualified applicants with disabilities that CEOs and business owners will draw upon to achieve this goal?
Based upon the recently released national 2010 Disability Statistics Compendium (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics), the types of disabilites for students ages 6-17 recognized/served through special education programs found that more than 4 out of 10 have LD and 1 out of 20 are served under the autism category (approximately 50% of all special education students).
So, (as he takes a deep breath) given that the majority of school-aged students with disabilities are considered to have learning disabilities or related disorders, one could assume that legislative, business, and community efforts would be aligning to propose/provide comprehensive programming for successful transition of the largest, single category of condition recognized as a significant barrier to educational attainment, employment paying a living wage, community participation, and civic engagement, right? not so fast, grasshopper!